In the Name of Allah (God), the Most

Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Learning Finite Element
Analysis (FEA) from The
Qur’an
Dr. Zaid Kasim Mohammad Ghazzawi
:E-mailzaidquran@gmail.com
Website: www.quran-miracle.com
What is the Finite Element
Method (FEM) ?
The answer can be known fully from the Noble
Qur’an
In The Name of Allah (God) The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful

Allah (God) created everything in a discrete fashion

The Qur’an (54: 49)

Allah (God) Almighty states that He

created everything in a discrete manner

Thus everything in creation is discrete

In The Name of Allah (God) The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful

And in your own self will you not then see

The Qur’an (51: 21)

Allah (God) Almighty encourages people to study

their bodies

The human body is the best textbook of optimal

design and analysis

Thus the best designs and analysis procedures

can be learnt from the human body
 The Design of The
Human Skeletal System

Bone
 Focus on this region

Tortora and Grabowski, 1996

‫الهيكل العظمي في جسم النسان‬
Focus on this region
 Bone
strain

Muscle
force

http://www.bmb.psu.edu/courses/bisci004a/bone/lacuna.jpg

Cells that can sense the

displacement at every
location within bone

http://bodymap.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/doc/images/fg3.jpg
 Displacement, temperature,
magnetic field, and every
property can be obtained at every
location within the structure

How is it
?possible
Osteocytes

Internal Design of Human Bone

 Hydroxy apatite
crystal (bone element)

Element

Bone Elements
Defining the shape and material
properties for them
In The Name of Allah (God) The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful

In whatever form Allah (God) willed He assembled you

The Qur’an (82: 8)

Allah Almighty states that He created you in a

process of assembly

Thus everything in the creation of Allah Almighty

is composed of basic units
 In The Name of Allah (God) The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful

Who perfected everything He created and started the

creation of human from mud
The Qur’an (82: 32)

Since Allah (God) Almighty perfected everything He has

created

Then discretization is the optimal method to design and

analyze a system
 A complex structure is Discretizing it into simple
made simple by: to analyze basic units

The assembly of these

basic units compose the
complex structure

These units have the following fundamental properties :

Every physical property is Clear geometrical

easy to be calculated for Simple geometrical shape associations between
these basic units these units

This is the basis of the finite element method (FEM)

 The optimal method to analyze any system as
derived from the Noble Qur’an and the human body

1. To discretize the system into basic units and to analyze the

design and function (Energy transmission) of these units
2. These units (elements) are easy to deal with and it is easy to
calculate any required parameter for these elements
3. The elements the system is composed of are connected together
with no discontinuities (Element connectivity)
4. The optimal organization of the elements is a hexagonal pattern
(covering maximum volume with the least amount of elements)
5. The dimensions of these elements should be small compared to
the dimensions of the system
6. Elements should be stable and exhibit no excessive (i.e. large)
displacements
 The Creation of a Structure
 Allah Almighty teaches us that the best way
to do that is to assemble the basic structural
units together to create the structure.
 Advantages of this method:
1. Optimal control over the structure
2. Ensuring connectivity between the elements
3. Knowledge of the internal details of the structure
 Bottom – Up Approach
The Finite Element Method
((FEM
A method to analyze systems by discretizing
them into finite elements which are easy to
analyze and to obtain results from
Performing FEM using
ANSYS software
Steps to perform FEA
Can be completely derived from the Noble
Qur’an
 )َ‫(وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أََفلَا تُبْصِرُون‬
Since that the human body is built on Then studying the stages of its creation
discretization (Finite Elements ) would yield the following :

The best procedure to design structures

based on finite element technique

The optimal methodology to understand

finite element technique
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh, the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God ) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

Step 1
structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

Step 2
The next step is to determine the
assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

Step 3
The next step is to apply boundary
conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation
Step 4
The next step is to investigate the
interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
 Steps to perform FEA as found in the Noble Qur’an
1. Humans are made of clay (water + soil) ‫خلق النسان من طين‬
2. Humans are made into a nutfah (information regarding the creation
of components of the human body)
‫نطفة في قرار مكين‬
3. The creation of Alaqa from Notfah
3. The creation of Modgha (chewed like substance) from Alaqa
- Element creation (defining material properties and shape)
4. The creation of bones from the Modgha
- Creation of geometry, direct generation (use of elements and
their assembly in building the geometry)

5. The covering of bones with flesh (muscles, skin, etc.)

- Defining the Boundary conditions (BCs) applied to the
structure

6. Bringing the created human forth as another creation

- Initializing the solution, solving, and seeing the results
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh, the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God ) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

Step 1
structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

The next step is to determine the

assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

The next step is to apply boundary

conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation

The next step is to investigate the

interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
 The ModghaStage in the
Creation of the Human Body
Creation of the elements comprising the human
body
Defining the shape and material properties for
the elements
 Hydroxy apatite
crystal (bone element)

Element

Bone Elements
Defining the shape and material
properties for them
 Step (1)
In Finite Element Analysis
Preprocessor Stage
Defining element shape and material properties
 (In finite element method (FEM
 Nodes describe the geometrical shape of the element
 The domain is composed of elements and the
elements have nodes
 Elements are described by their shape. For example:
 Brick elements
 Triangular elements
 Shell elements
 Steps to perform FEA using ANSYS
1. Preprocessing stage
1. Select the desired element (ANSYS element library)
2. Define real constants (if needed)
3. Define material properties
• Isentropic material (similar properties is all dimensions)
• Orthotropic material (similar properties in two dimensions
and different in the third)
• Anisotropic material (different properties in all dimensions)
Elements in the finite element method
Bar element (1D)
 1D elements 2 nodes
1 DOF (UX)

Rectangular
element (2D)
 2D elements
4 nodes
2 DOF (UX, UY)

Triangular
element (2D)
3 nodes
2 DOF (UX, UY)
 Elements in finite element method
 3D elements Brick element
(3D)
8 nodes
3 DOF (UX, UY,
UZ)

Pyramidal
element (3D)
6 nodes
3 DOF (UX, UY,
UZ)
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh, the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

Step 2
The next step is to determine the
assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

The next step is to apply boundary

conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation

The next step is to investigate the

interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
 The BoneStage in the
Creation of the Human Body
Creation of the geometry
Direct assembly of elements to create the
structure
Bottom – Up approach
 Step (2)
In Finite Element Analysis
Preprocessor Stage
Creation of geometry:
-direct generation (use of elements and their assembly in
building the geometry)
-Creating the geometry and then discretizing it (meshing)
 1 Example using ANSYS
st

Fixed at this end

 Model the object shown on the

right with the applied load Width = 1
cm
 Material: Bone
 Mechanical properties
Height = 1
 Isentropic material cm
 Young’s modulus (E) = 17 GPa Depth = 2
 Poisson’s ratio (ν) = 0.3 cm
 Density (ρ) = 1750 kg/m3
How to model irregular
? geometries in ANSYS
Keypoints and splines method
 Meshing
Dividing the structure into elements (creating a
(mesh of elements
 Steps to perform FEA using ANSYS
1. Preprocessing stage
1. Select the desired element (ANSYS element library)
2. Define real constants (if needed)
3. Define material properties
• Isentropic material (similar properties is all dimensions)
• Orthotropic material (similar properties in two dimensions and different in the
third)
• Anisotropic material (different properties in all dimensions)
4. Create the geometry
• Direct method (defining keypoints which are the nodes of the elements)
• Indirect method (using shapes such as rectangle, triangle, cylinder, sphere or
defining key points and creating lines, areas, and volumes from them)
5. Meshing stage
• Smart meshing (variable element size)
• Manual meshing (fixed element size)
Manual meshing
(Smart meshing (setting 5
 2nd
Example using ANSYS
Fixed at this end

 Mesh the structure using

Width = 1
 Manual meshing cm
 Automatic meshing (smart
meshing)
Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm
 Steps to perform FEA as found in the Noble Qur’an
1. Humans are made of clay (water + soil) ‫خلق النسان من طين‬
2. Humans are made into a nutfah (information regarding the creation
of components of the human body)
‫نطفة في قرار مكين‬
3. The creation of Alaqa from Notfah
3. The creation of Modgha (chewed like substance) from Alaqa
- Element creation (defining material properties and shape)
4. The creation of bones from the Modgha
- Creation of geometry, direct generation (use of elements and
their assembly in building the geometry)

5. The covering of bones with flesh (muscles, skin, etc.)

- Defining the Boundary conditions (BCs) applied to the
structure

6. Bringing the created human forth as another creation

- Initializing the solution, solving, and seeing the results
‫‪Tortora and Grabowski, 1996‬‬
‫الهيكل العظمي في جسم النسان‬
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh, the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God ) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

The next step is to determine the

assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

Step 3
The next step is to apply boundary
conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation

The next step is to investigate the

interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
Covering the bones with flesh
(.(muscles, tendon, skin, etc
Applying the boundary conditions on the
discretized structure
 Step (3)
In Finite Element Analysis
Solution Stage
Applying the boundary conditions on the meshed structure
 Steps to perform FEA using ANSYS
2. Solution phase
1. Select analysis (structural (linear, non-linear),
magnetic, electrical, etc.)
2. Apply loads:
1. Displacements
2. Forces and moments
3. Temperature
4. Voltages
5. Magnetic field flux
3. Initialize the solution (Solve current load step (LS))
 3 Example using ANSYS
rd

Fixed at this end

 Apply the shown loads on the

meshed structure Width = 1
cm

Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm

1000 N
 Steps to perform FEA as found in the Noble Qur’an
1. Humans are made of clay (water + soil) ‫خلق النسان من طين‬
2. Humans are made into a nutfah (information regarding the creation
of components of the human body)
‫نطفة في قرار مكين‬
3. The creation of Alaqa from Notfah
3. The creation of Modgha (chewed like substance) from Alaqa
- Element creation (defining material properties and shape)
4. The creation of bones from the Modgha
- Creation of geometry, direct generation (use of elements and
their assembly in building the geometry)

5. The covering of bones with flesh (muscles, skin, etc.)

- Defining the Boundary conditions (BCs) applied to the
structure

6. Bringing the created human forth as another creation

- Initializing the solution, solving, and seeing the results
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh, the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God ) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

The next step is to determine the

assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

The next step is to apply boundary

conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation
Step 4
The next step is to investigate the
interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
Bringing the Human Body
forth as another creation
Seeing the functionality of the system
(i.e. The interaction between the boundary
(conditions and the structure
 Steps to perform FEA using ANSYS
3. Post-processing stage
1. Plot results:
• Displacements
• Stress (1st, 2nd, and 3rd principal stresses, von Mises)
• Strain
• Vector plot
• Path plot
2. Animation: ramping the load from 0 to max value and
seeing in real time the effect on the structure.
1. Displacement, stress, strain, etc.
 4 Example using ANSYS
th

Fixed at this end

 Examine the following results

from the model: Width = 1
cm
 Displacements
 Von Mises Stress and Strain
 Vector plots Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm

1000 N
 Errors in Finite Element Analysis
• Modeling error: Error resulting from assumptions
done when trying to represent the physical system
in the computer.
• Discretization error: error resulting from the
difference in the degrees of freedom between the
meshed object and the real one.
• Numerical error: error resulting from rounding off
numbers when solving the equations representing
the model of the physical system.
• Software error: error resulting from errors in the
code listing of the program.
 1 Example using ANSYS
st

Fixed at this end

 Model the object shown on the

right with the applied load Width = 1
cm
 Material: Steel
 Mechanical properties
Height = 1
 Isentropic material cm
 Young’s modulus (E) = 207 GPa Depth = 2
 Poisson’s ratio (ν) = 0.3 cm
 Density (ρ) = 7500 kg/m3
 2nd
Example using ANSYS
Fixed at this end

 Mesh the structure using

Width = 1
 Manual meshing cm
 Automatic meshing (smart
meshing)
Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm
 3 Example using ANSYS
rd

Fixed at this end

 Apply the shown loads on the

meshed structure Width = 1
cm

Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm

1000 N
 4 Example using ANSYS
th

Fixed at this end

 Examine the following results

from the model: Width = 1
cm
 Displacements
 Von Mises Stress and Strain
 Vector plots Height = 1
cm

Depth = 2
cm

1000 N
 In the Name of Allah (God) Almighty The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
Then We made the Nutfah into a clot (a piece of thick
coagulated blood ), then We made the clot into a little
lump of flesh , then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh ,
and then We brought it forth as another creation . So
blessed be Allâh , the Best of creators
The Noble Qur’an (23: 14)

Reflection upon the verse Conclusion

Then Allah (God ) Almighty created the Alaqa Modgha is comprised of the basic
(object that clings) into a modgha (chewed like elements from which the human body is
substance) to be composed of

Thus the first step in designing a

structure is to determine the basic
elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty created the

modgha (chewed like substance) into bones Bone is the assembled state of the
basic units mentioned earlier

The next step is to determine the

assembly of the finite elements

Then Allah (God) Almighty covers the bones Then external forces and fixation are
with flesh (muscles, ligaments, cartilage, etc.) applied to the model

The next step is to apply boundary

conditions (BCs) to the structure

Then Allah (God) Almighty brings forth the

structure plus the BCs with another Then the applied BCs are activated
mechanism of creation

The next step is to investigate the

interaction between the applied
BCs and the structure
 Dr. Zaid Kasim Ghazzawi

E-mail : zaidquran@gmail.com

Website:www.quran-miracle.com